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A Quiet Birthday  A reasonably good crowd was on handconsidering
it was at 7:45 a.m.for the short pre-opening ceremony that constituted
the bulk of celebration for Disneyland's 48th birthday on Thursday, July
17. The festivities began with a performance by Groove 66 from Disney's
California Adventure park, an introduction by Disneyland Ambassador Daina
Baker, and then some words by Resort President Cynthia Harriss. While
Ms. Harriss did mention the 50th Anniversary celebration, no details were
shared. Whether that is because they are secret or because Disney is still
figuring it out, remains an exercise for the reader.

Collectible Pirate menu at Disneyland  While
supplies last, the Blue Bayou restaurant is offering visitors a collectible
keepsake menu with its lunch or dinner order. Two versions of this menuone
each for lunch and dinnerwere created to celebrate the opening of
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. The menu has
artwork from the movie poster on the back, with graphics from the attraction
on the face. The restaurant is serving a new menu item, the Royal
Street Seafood and Spinach Salad, at dinner only.

After
this weekend's NFFC conventioneers leave port, there won't be many copies
left of Blue Bayou's commemorative Pirates menus.

New Birthday Merchandise at Plaza Inn  Disneyland
is expanding the popular My Disneyland Birthday program, adding
new merchandise to the offering. Visitors can now take home a plush Happy
Birthday Mickey or Pooh, along with a new Mickey pin and magnetic frame.
In addition to the Sorcerer Mickey and Princess birthday buckets, the
birthday boy or girl can receive a Buzz Lightyear bucket, complete with
birthday cake, pin, sticker sheet and wind-up little green alien toy.

Tony Hawk adds X-Citement  In an attempt to promote DCA's
X Games Xperience as something bigger and better than the similar shows
cropping up at other Southern California parks and county fairs, this
last Saturday had some additional star power on the new half-pipe stage.

Tony Hawk hand-selected a crew of skateboarders to put on a show for
everybody, and included his 11-year-old son, Riley. The fact that one
of the premier names in skateboarding has an 11-year-old son should help
in drawing a cross-generational crowd across the esplanade into DCA.

Tony Hawk watching his skaters put on a show. Photo by Andrew Rich.

We're honored  The MousePlanet staff is honored at the number
of people who stopped by the Hub on Thursday to say hello to Adrienne
Krock, Andrew Rich, Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix and Tony Phoenix and celebrate
MousePlanet's birthday.

Some of our readers are willing to allow photographic evidence. Photo
by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.

Splash Mountain Rehab Extended  We haven't tracked down the reason yet, but the post-summer closure of Splash Mountain appears to have been extended by two weeks, until at least October 18. This would bring the total down-time to approximately six weeks.

Goofy's Beach Bash and Mickey's Detective School Cancelled 
In a bit of a surprise, the final day for both of these shows has been
announced as Tuesday, July 29. While it could hardly be claimed that these
shows were shining stars in the history of Disneyland Resort's live entertainment,
it is unusual that they would be discontinued in the middle of the busier
summer season. No word has yet been received of any possible new shows.

Special Lion King offer for Disneyland Annual Passholders 
Pre-order The Lion King Platinum Edition DVD or VHS at the
Disneyland Resort between August 3 and September 20, and receive free
shipping and two free gifts: a limited edition plush Simba, and a limited
edition pin. The Lion King Platinum Edition DVD will include new
scenes, and a new song by Elton John.

Half-Price Angels tickets for Disneyland Annual Passholders 
Disneyland Annual Passholders can purchase tickets to select games
at a 50% discount. Specific dates and prices can be found at the Annual
Passholder Web site (link).

Current Refurbishments and Attraction Closures

Disneyland

Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through  indefinite. The Disneyland.com
Web site shows this reopening on September 27

Space Mountain  through 2005

Disneys California Adventure

Superstar Limo  indefinite

Future Attraction Closures

Mark Twain Riverboat - September 2 - October 3

Splash Mountain  September 2 - October 3

Haunted Mansion  September 8 - October 3, for the installation
of the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay

it's a small world  October 6 - November 7, for
the installation of the it's a small world Holiday overlay

Note: Refurbishment schedules are estimates only. All information
is subject to change without notice. To get the most recent updates, call
Disneyland at (714) 781-7290.

Park Events

May 25 - July 26, 2003  Mickey's All American Pin Festival.
A series of new product releases and mini-events are scheduled during
the nine-week promotion. More details and a complete schedule of release
dates are available on our MousePad
message boards.

July 1 - August 10  X Games Xperience at Disney's California
Adventure.

Current Discounts & Promotions

Special Lion King offer for Disneyland Annual Passholders 
Pre-order The Lion King Platinum Edition DVD or VHS at the
Disneyland Resort between August 3 and September 20, and receive free
shipping and two free gifts: a limited edition plush Simba, and a limited
edition pin. The Lion King Platinum Edition DVD will include new
scenes and a new song by Elton John.

Half-Price Angels tickets for Disneyland Annual Passholders - Disneyland
Annual Passholders can purchase tickets to select games at a 50% discount.
Specific dates and prices can be found at the Annual Passholder Web site
(link).

Get $150 in Disney Dollars  Book a Walt Disney Travel Company
Vacation package that includes a stay of 4 nights or longer at one of
the Disneyland Resort Hotels, and receive 150 Disney Dollars! Get more
details from Disney Travel, or on the Disneyland Web site (link).
[Thanks to MousePlanet reader Bastion for the information.]

Get 5 days and 4 nights for the price of 3  Book a package
at the Disneyland Resort for a minimum four-nights through the Walt Disney
Travel Company, and your package price will include one night's free accommodations
at participating hotels. Your package will also include a five-day Disneyland
Resort park hopper ticket for the price of a three-day Disneyland Resort
park hopper ticket. Click
here for a list of participating hotels and dates.

New Play 4 Days pass Southern California residents, (zip codes
90000-93599), can purchase a new four-day ticket for just $79. The ticket
is valid for four admissions to either Disneyland or Disney's California
Adventure park, between June 1 and September 30, 2003. Residents can purchase
just one ticket per person, per day, so your out-of-town relatives will
need to buy their own, regular-priced admission.

The tickets can only be used at one park each day  no park hopping.
We understand that you can use two admissions  one to each park
 on the same day, effectively making this a $79 two-day park-hopper
ticket, a $20 discount from the regular adult price.

The tickets can not be used at Disneyland on June 28, and July 4, 5,
26, and August 2, 9, 16, 23, 29, 30, and 31. There are no block-out days
for DCA. Tickets are nontransferable, and you must show a valid ID each
time. These tickets can be applied towards the cost of a Deluxe or Premium
Annual Passport, (but not a Southern California Annual Passport), so long
as you upgrade when or before you use the fourth admission.

Disney's Armed Forces Salute  Through Friday, December 19,
all active members of the United States military (including Coast Guard
and activated National Guard and Reservists) qualify for Disney's Armed
Forces Salute and can claim one free 3-day park-hopper tickets.
Since the tickets expire on December 19, you must claim them by December
17 to use all three day's worth. The passes can only be claimed at a park
gate ticket booth. To claim the passes, valid military ID must be shown;
activated National Guard and Reservists must also show their active duty
orders.

In addition to the one free pass, each qualifying person can also purchase
up to five 3-day companion passes for $39 each. If the qualifying person
cannot visit a park to purchase these companion tickets, a spouse may
do so instead.

Summer Annual Passholder special  The first ticket promotion
this summer is an Annual Passholder special. From May 21 to September
3, APs can purchase a 2-Day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper for $69 (10+)
and $49 (3-9). Just present your AP at any ticket booth. Limit five tickets
per Passholder, per day. Tickets are valid for 14 days from date of first
usage. First usage must be on date of purchase. Last usage must be on
or before Tuesday, September 16, 2003.

Annual passholder discounts at Alamo  California residents
get discounts of up to 20% off Alamo's retail rates in the United States.
Disneyland annual passholders can get a free Disneyland Resort Character
Breakfast voucher when the rent their car for 3 days or more from March
24th through August 31, 2003 at the Los Angeles Airport location. For
more details and the discount code you'll need for this offer, visit the
annual
passholder section of the Disneyland Web site.

ESPN Zone discounts for annual passholders  Disneyland annual
passholders can get an Season Ticket Frequent Dining Card at the Downtown
Disney ESPN Zone. The Season Ticket entitles you to a free soda with your
meal purchase of $6.99 or more. Once you have made four meal purchases,
you receive the fifth meal and soda free, and get a chance to win a pair
of tickets to the ESPY Awards in 2004. See location for more information
and details.

City Pass now available with AAA packages  You can now purchase
the Southern California City Pass with Walt Disney Travel Company packages.

With a Southern California City Pass booklet, you will receive admission
to five separate entertainment options. Admission includes:

3-day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Ticket

1-day ticket to Sea World Adventure park

1-day ticket to the World-famous San Diego Zoo

1-day ticket to Knott's Theme Park.

Instead of the Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Ticket currently included
in California packages from the Walt Disney Travel Company, guests can
select a Southern California city's for an additional charge of $47 per
pass ($32 per pass for guests ages 3 through 9).

Note: The Southern California City's does not include the $10
ESPN Zone Arena Game Card, or the California package's feature that allows
guests to collect multiple Fastpass tickets at once for free in advance.

The Get a 5-Day Park Hopper ticket for the price of a 3-Day
ticket promotion has been extended through January 5, 2004 
These tickets are available when you order online from Disneyland.com.
Restrictions apply  see site
for details.

AAA Passport Plus Package  For $122.75, you can get a 5-day
park hopper and the following extras:

Multiple attraction Fastpass (The Unlimited option)

Breakfast in the park (one per person)

Free ESPN Zone arena game card ($10 value)

AAA Free parking at the Disneyland Resort Theme Parks

A $13.75 FedEx fee applies to each reservation, (not per person). This
package is available without an air or hotel purchase, and must be purchased
at your local AAA affiliate office at least 5 days before you plan to
use the tickets.

Many readers have experienced difficulties when trying to purchase this
package from their local AAA affiliate. Be sure to read this
thread on our MousePad discussion boards, for more information
about the package and tips on how to help your AAA travel agent book your
package.

MousePlanet® is not associated in any official way with the Walt Disney Company, its subsidiaries, or its affiliates. The official Disney site is available at www.disney.com. This MousePlanet Web site provides independent news articles, commentary, editorials, reviews, and guides primarily about the theme park resorts of the Walt Disney Co. All information on this site is subject to change. Please call destinations in advance to confirm the most up-to-date information.